The Prodigious Child
by Arod1221
Summary: updated thanks to beta GetWithit
1. beginnings

Chapter One

"**Unknown Whisper**"

"Normal talking"

"_Thinking thoughts_"

I do not own any of Naruto's characters as you may already know

Beta: GetWithIt

Date: October 10

Location: Leaf Village, Orphanage

Music and laughter spilled from the Leaf's orphanage, where a great number of people had gathered to celebrate a special occasion, the princess' birthday. The princess, a 6 year old Natsumi Namikaze, was a small girl with bright blonde hair kept in twin ponytails, lively blue eyes, a contagious smile, and three thin whisker-like marks on each cheek. For the occasion, Natsumi wore a white shirt with the Leaf's symbol on it and vibrant orange pants.

The attendees were mainly composed of the resident orphans and a great number of the clan heads' children. All the kids were playing a game of tag in the orphanage's back yard, excluding two boys, one with a black hair pulled back in such a way that it resembled a pineapple; while the other was a chubby brunette snacking on potato chips. They'd rather sit and look at the clouds then run around with the other kids.

"You're it Natsumi!" yelled a boy with a distinctively feral expression.

"I'll get you back Kiba," shouted Natsumi. "Just you wait!"

Kiba simply stayed where he was and said in a confident voice, "Nope, I got you - you can't get me now." Then he smiled cockily at her. Put out, Natsumi looked around, trying to decide who she should tag instead. There was Ino, over by the orphanage wall, and Mu, an orphan boy, not too far from Ino… but where was Shino? He was the only kid playing who had yet to be tagged.

Natsumi spun around, taking in the entire backyard, "Okay, I see Kiba, Ino, Mu, Ren, Misa, Choji, Shikamaru, and Gaje...where is he?!" she thought with no small amount of frustration.

Meanwhile, Shino was sitting up on tree branch, camouflaged by the leaves, simply observing as the birthday girl kept moving her gaze from one place to another as if she were looking for someone.

* * *

In a clearing some distance away from the bright lights of the orphanage was boy with blonde hair, three wide whisker-like marks on each cheek, and plain, dark clothes. He would be relatively unassuming, were it not for his dull, empty black eyes – eyes that lacked even a hint of childish happiness. It was his birthday too, but he preferred to spend his time alone in the forest, well away from other people. "**You don't need them**," echoed in his ears.

It was peaceful in the clearing. The skinny boy walked towards a tree with a hole in its trunk and stuck his hand in up to the elbow. From the hollow he pulled a wooden box about a foot in length. He crouched and placed the box on the grass, before opening it to reveal rows of carefully polished shuriken. With a bored expression on his face, the boy took a shuriken between his fingers, turned around and set his gaze upon a square board with a small red circle at its center.

The target hung on a tree that was actually quite a distance away where the boy stood. The blonde took a deep breath, pulled his arm back, before snapping it forward and releasing the shuriken. The projectile hurtled through the air and landed in the middle of the red circle with a quiet 'thunk'. "**Good job**." The boy gave no indication that he heard the whisper and turned around to retrieve a second shuriken from the box.

He turned back to his target, pulled his arm back, and repeated the motions with a solemn efficiency. This time, however, he was met with the sound of metal hitting metal. At the sound the six year old spun and gathered five shuriken in his left hand before turning once more toward the target.

He bent his knees a bit and started by quickly taking one at a time and throwing it at the board. Each time he threw a shuriken he was met with the sound of metal striking metal.

* * *

Back at the birthday party Kiba's voice had once more risen to a shout. "YOU ATE HALF THE CAKE!" he yelled indignantly when he saw that Natsumi had indeed eaten half the cake, "You were supposed to wait for everyone!" He threw his hands in the air in frustration.

"But I couldn't wait," Natsumi said in an insincerely sad voice. Barely a moment later and she was up and yelling "Jiji!" when she saw an old man, better known as the third Hokage, enter the yard.

"Well hello Natsumi-chan," said the Hokage with a smile, "Are you enjoying the party?"

"YES I AM! I made a bunch of new friends, like Kiba, and Ino , and Choji, and Shikamaru and Shino," answered Natsumi happily. The Hokage smiled at the news that she was getting along with everyone.

Back at the clearing, the blonde boy was going through a set of complicated taijutsu movements he'd copied from a man in a green spandex suit. The man had the biggest eyebrows the boy had ever seen, to the point of expressing a little bit of shock when he first saw them, but as for the taijutsu movements he was practicing, the boy was completing them flawlessly.

Back at the birthday party the Hokage knelt before the birthday girl. "Well Natsumi, I have a gift for you," said the old man with a smile.

"Yay! What is it? Let me see, let me see, lemesee!" Natsumi responded exuberantly. The hokage chuckled and pulled a necklace from his robes. The necklace consisted of a golden metal circle with a spiral strung through a simple leather string.

"Do you like it?" asked the third Hokage.

"Um..." Natsumi looked at the necklace closely. "I do!" she responded with a smile and quickly put the gift around her neck. "Thank you Jiji" she said. The girl turned to go back to her friends, but the Hokage stopped her by placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Natsumi, have you seen Naruto?" Natsumi turned around and placed a finger on her forehead and closed her eyes, as if she were concentrating really hard.

"Nope, no clue," she replied after a moment. Natsumi then turned around and ran back to the other kids. The Hokage sighed heavily, as Naruto tended to be conspicuously absent whenever he visited. He would have more time if not for the massive amounts of paperwork he had to do. The elderly man looked out at the horizon and noticed the sun was setting already. "I guess I'll give him the necklace tomorrow," the Hokage thought.

* * *

The boy from the woods, Naruto, was walking back home after his training. He hadn't noticed the time and it was already dark, making him a bit nervous. He'd been attacked for no reason before, so he'd come to the conclusion it was dangerous after dusk. As Naruto walked, he kept his gaze down in order to avoid eye contact with anyone. He turned into an alley he regularly used as a short cut to the orphanage, but failed to notice someone in his way until he bumped into that person's legs.

"If it isn't the little demon?" said a man with a sadistic smile. Right away, the blonde recognized the stranger's clothing as that of a ninja. Naruto didn't respond. He just tried to walk around, but the man grasped him by the hair and threw him to the ground. The boy barely showed any signs of pain, but he did feel anger starting build in response. "**You are going to let him do that?**" The boy turn his eyes toward the man, the man lost his smile. "What's that frown for?" the man asked and proceeded to kick the boy's face with the bottom of his boot. "**Get angry**."

The boy ended up hitting the back of his head as well from the force of the kick. "**Let your anger out**." The boy clutched his head and started twisting on the floor, the man looked at the boy with a smile, let out a small laugh, and then he kicked the boy on the side, sending him into the wall from the force of the impact. "**Kill him**." Naruto clutched his head harder and started saying "Stop, please!" The man was happy to see the demon suffering. "**Kill him**." "No, please, stop!" the man kicked the boy again. "**Kill him.**" Tears started flowing from the boy's eyes. "**Kill him**!"

* * *

The Hokage was back at his office, looking out into the dark with his pipe in his mouth. There was a knock on his office door. "Come in," he said, taking the pipe in his hand, not turning away from his window. He heard two pairs of feet enter the office. One clearly belonged to a small child, the other to an adult.

The Hokage turned to see one of his ANBU operatives with a small boy covered with blood. Even the boy's blonde hair looked red with the amount of gore that covered him, his shirt nearly red as well, but what disturbed him the most was the barely noticeable smile that adorned the boy's face.


	2. Solution

Chapter 2

Author Note:

1\. Kimimaro will come in later.

2\. Natsumi is Naruto's twin sister.

3 OC stands for several OCs not just one.

"Unknown Whisper"

"Normal talking"

"Thinking thoughts"

The third Hokage looked on with a frown as Naruto clutched at his stomach "So that's the reason everyone hates me?" said the boy in a shaky voice as if he was about to breakdown crying. The third understood exactly what had happened; someone had decided to ignore the secrecy law and told the very person who would suffer the most from the knowledge. "Is it true?" asked Naruto.

The third's heart clenched as guilt washed through him. He had no idea how to answer the question. If he were to say yes then the boy would want to know why he was chosen and may even lead to other undesirable results, but if he were to say no, he'd feel guilty for lying to the child and couldn't be sure that a similar incident wouldn't occur in the future.

"Permission to speak freely?" said the ANBU. The third nodded at the request. "I think that the problem here is not whether Naruto-kun has the Nine-Tails sealed in him or not, but for him to be able to defend himself, as every other ANBU refuses to watch over Naruto-kun."

The third didn't like how the ANBU phrased it but the man was right. The third turn his chair around, "And what would you recommend?"

Naruto listened closely. He didn't quite understand why they wanted him to be able to defend himself, when he already could. The real problem was that the voice would stop talking to him when the attacker showed up.

"I'll take him under my wing for a year, and teach him what he needs within that time."

When the words left the ANBU's mouth the elderly Hokage turned around abruptly. "That's very unlike you," said the third, since this ANBU worked by himself or with another particular ANBU only.

"I believe that Naruto-kun has great potential" said the ANBU.

The third had already planned to enroll Natsumi and Naruto in the ninja academy in two years, but if Naruto were to go under the ANBU's wing he would undergo a great deal of solitary training. The third usually believed that making connections with others would allow for better teamwork which would increase the odds of success, and friendship, but Naruto was already living a life of solitude.

The third decided that Naruto would go under the ANBU's wing and train with him for a year, then afterward he would have a year to be a kid before starting at the academy. He believed Naruto would benefit from the extra training. Especially since his class would have so many of the clan heads' children, meaning that if Naruto received training now he might be able to make friends in the academy, with people with similar skills. "Naruto may go under your wing for a year, if he agrees to it."

Both the third and the ANBU turned their heads to the boy who had been silently listening the entire time.

Naruto was pleased, but for some reason couldn't bring himself to smile. He'd always been interested in the ninja arts, and now he had an ANBU, of all things, taking him under their wing. The boy was more than happy to accept. "Yes, I would like that."

"**Kill the Uchiha."**

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

-The next day

Naruto and the ANBU were standing in the clearing where Naruto usually trained. "I've seen you training here a couple times," said the ANBU to the blonde.

Naruto didn't respond, or gave any signs that he'd heard. The ANBU brought his hand up to his mask and took it off.

Naruto stared in surprise at the bare-faced ANBU. Without the mask to obscure his facial features, Naruto noticed his new teacher's evident youth. "How old are you?" asked Naruto curiously.

The now unmasked ANBU gave Naruto a small smile. "I am twelve years old," said the boy.

"Twelve years old and he is already in ANBU, he must be really strong," thought Naruto. The ANBU boy took a seat on the ground and Naruto imitated him.

"Since we are going to be spending a year with each other, we might as well get to know one another, so tell me your name, what you like, dislike and tell me what your dream is."

Naruto open his mouth but nothing came out, it was then that he noticed that he didn't even knew much about himself. "Well, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. I dislike... um… I like... the ninja arts... and my dream..." to have a dream, Naruto had heard other kids talking about such things in the orphanage. Like saying that their dream was that one day they would be wealthy, find a family or have so much of something. Naruto wasn't sure what he wanted. "I don't think I have a dream right now... sorry," said Naruto. The boy looked down at the grass, feeling as though he'd already failed his mentor.

Naruto felt a sudden weight on his head and looked up to find that the ANBU had a smile on his face. "Don't worry, it'll come with time."

Naruto felt a small smile form on his own face in response.

The ANBU lifted his hand from the boys head and started talking. " My name is Itachi Uchiha. I like many things, such as chocolate covered vanilla ice-cream. I dislike when the ice-cream shop doesn't have any vanilla ice-cream. As for my dream, I just dream of living a happy life and seeing my little brother grow up to be happy as well," said Itachi with a distant yet peaceful expression on his face.

Naruto studied the boy who would be his mentor. He had black hair pulled into a small ponytail, dark eyes, and stress lines extending down under his eyes, making him appear rather tired.

Itachi rose to his feet. "Let's get started Naruto-kun. Attack me with all you've got. I want to see where you stand," Itachi instructed.

Naruto quickly got up, and started analyzing Itachi, to find weak spots to attack him from, but the ANBU was simply standing with no form whatsoever, so Naruto decided on a frontal assault.

The blonde jumped up and threw a quick jab at Itachi's face. Itachi simply shifted to the left, dodging the jab and at the same time taking Naruto's arm and throwing him to the side. Naruto rolled to his feet and ran to Itachi once again, this time going for a sweeping kick, which Itachi hopped over with astonishing ease.

What Itachi wasn't expecting was for Naruto to go and perform Gai-san's Leaf Tornado, but even then he was able to stop the move with his bare hands before repeating what he did before and throwing Naruto to the side.

**"Kill the Uchiha"**

Naruto felt a sudden surge of anger and hatred for the boy standing before him. He felt his heart start beating faster and faster, pumping blood through his veins at a furious pace. The blonde ran at Itachi with more speed than he'd used previously and started attacking the older boy at a much faster pace.

Itachi was impressed with the sudden burst of energy Naruto displayed. His moves were faster and his blows had greater force than he'd used before. Even his coordination and the precision of his movements had suddenly improved. It was truly amazing, but still not enough to overwhelm Itachi.

Naruto went for a second attempt at the kick he'd learned from the man in the green spandex suit, but Itachi caught him once more, this time slamming him into the ground instead of throwing him. The air escaped Naruto's lungs, leaving him gasping for air as he lay sprawled on his back.

Itachi look at Naruto with an appraising eye. "You're much better then I thought you'd be." Itachi sat on the ground in front of Naruto, who held his stomach as he tried to get air back into his lungs. As soon as Naruto was able to breath once again Itachi started talking. "Your Taijutsu is proficient, so we'll move onto something else." Itachi looked at Naruto, the younger boy was covered in sweat and dirt but didn't look tired at all.

"Do you know what chakra is Naruto-kun?" Itachi asked.

"Yes, but I'm not sure what I can do with it."

Itachi got up and made his way out of the clearing and into the forest. Naruto jumped to his feet and started running to catch up with Itachi. After a while they both reached a pond that was in another clearing. Itachi kept walking towards the pond and continued walking when he reached the pond, walking on the surface of the water until he reached the other side. He then turned around and looked at Naruto. "This is one of the uses of chakra, simply concentrate your chakra to your feet and try to keep yourself afloat." With that said he sat on the ground with his legs crossed and closed his eyes.

Naruto went over what Itachi said in his head. "_Concentrate the chakra to your feet." _And so Naruto walked to the edge of the pond and stared down at his reflection. He was wearing an all-black shirt and black shorts, and ninja sandals. The blonde decided to take his shirt and sandals off, since he didn't think he would get it on the first try.

Naruto faced the pond and closed his eyes as he concentrated chakra down to his feet. When he felt the chakra reach his feet, Naruto opened his eyes slowly and took a step forward. As soon as his foot touched the surface of the pond his whole body went into the water.

Itachi smiled when he heard the loud splash. He had skipped the tree walking exercise on purpose, he wanted to see how fast Naruto could adapt. It was rare for a ninja in training to be able to advance in the water walking exercise without ever doing the tree walking exercise, though that had been exactly what Itachi himself had done. Instead of attempting the tree walking exercise, his father Fugaku Uchiha had introduced him to the water walking exercise right away, which he was able to perform in two days at the age of 6. Itachi heard hear another splash and open one eye to see Naruto once more break the surface of the water. The younger boy sank down but surprisingly was able to hold himself with his hands on the surface. It only lasted a moment before the boy couldn't keep it up and sank fully. Itachi closed his eyes and paid no more attention to him.

A few hours passed before Itachi open his eyes again. Itachi looked at the pond and found that Naruto was in the middle of the pond in the same position that he himself was in. Itachi was truly astonished he had completed the water walking exercise in hours, especially when Naruto had such large reserves of chakra, which would hinder his chakra control, but it appeared that it wasn't the case with him. "I am very..."

Itachi didn't get to finish, since as soon as he spoke Naruto's body sank into the water.

"…Impressed" Itachi finished with a chuckle

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After Itachi took Naruto to the room they'd be sharing in ANBU headquarters for the remainder of the year, he took off to meet with the Hokage to give a brief report on Naruto's training.

Hidden by the dark of the night, Itachi jumped from one roof to another without a single sound. Soon he reached the Hokage tower and quickly let himself in through the window that had been left open on purpose.

Itachi appeared in front of the third's desk kneeling on one knee to show his respect. The third was already expecting him, leaning back in his chair and studying the twelve year old's unmasked face. "What do you think about Naruto, Itachi-kun?"

Itachi stood up and allowed a smile to form on his face "I believed Naruto-kun was a gifted child at first, and today's training confirmed it."


End file.
